Iraq Supporters of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr began handing in weapons under a deal with the Iraqi government, while two US soldiers were killed in Baghdad and two Iraqis died in an attack on a US military convoy in Mosul. Iraq Armed men claiming to belong to the militant group of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Mussab Al-Zarqawi, threatened to behead a Turkish hostage unless all Iraqi prisoners were released and all Turkish nationals left Iraq. Nigeria Millions of workers in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, began a four-day nationwide strike over rising fuel prices, in union leaders' latest challenge to President Olusegun Obasanjo's economic reforms. Afghanistan The Afghan-UN electoral committee said the United Nations would probe irregularities in Afghanistan's presidential election, amid intense negotiations to reach a breakthrough agreement with protesting candidates. Mideast Israel pushed on with its massive offensive in the northern Gaza Strip despite the reservations of senior army chiefs, while Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prepared to address parliament on his plan to pull out of the Palestinian territory next year. EU The European Union extended sanctions against Myanmar - including widening a visa blacklist and clamping down on investment -- after the military-ruled state failed to meet key demands on human rights, including the release of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Australia Australian Prime Minister John Howard promised his newly-elected fourth-term government would strive to maintain a strong economy and fight terror as top priorities, but would not let the strongest government mandate for 23 years go to its head. Pakistan A tribal leader linked to Al-Qaeda threatened to execute one of two Chinese hostages unless the captors were allowed to flee their besieged base near the Afghan border. Cameroon Voting got under way in Cameroon's presidential election, with more than 4.6 million voters registered to cast ballots in a poll many observers are certain will be won by long-time leader Paul Biya. South Africa South African businessman Shabir Shaik went on trial in one of the biggest cases in post-apartheid history, facing charges of fraud and corruption that could jeopardise the career of Deputy President Jacob Zuma in bribery. US US actor Christopher Reeve, who brought comic book hero Superman to the silver screen, then championed the disabled after an equestrian accident in 1995 left him paralysed, has died of heart failure at the age of 52, his publicist said. Sweden Finn Kydland from Norway and Edward Prescott from the United States won the 2004 Nobel Economics Prize for business cycle research that has helped reform monetary policy in numerous countries. Macedonia Visiting US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned Macedonians that they faced "a clear choice" between a future with NATO or a return to the unstable past in a referendum on power-sharing envisioned in a 2001 peace accord.